Kitchen-safe



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J. M. GURT'ICE.

KITCHENA SAFE.

No. 602,733. Patented Apr. 19, 189s.

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J. M. CURTIGE.

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KITGHEN SAFE.

IlNrTnn STATES PATENT FFICE@ KITCHEN-SAFE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 602,733, dated April19, 1898.

Application iilecl March 31, 1897.

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, JEssE M. CURrrcE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri,have invented a new and useful Kitchen-Safe,of which the following is aspecification. a

This invention relates to kitchen-safes; and it has for its object toeffect certain improvements in safes of this character whereby the sameshall be rendered more useful and handy in the kitchen. To accomplishthis desirable result, the invention primarily contemplates theconstruction of a kitchen-safe in such a manner as toV provideconvenient air-tight receptacles or repositories for different articlesof food-such as fiour, meal, sugar, bread, and the like-and also forsuch other articles as are useful to the housekeeper in the kitchen.

The invention also has for an object the arrangement of the diiferentparts of the safe in such a manner as to render the different articlesof food most easily accessible.

A further object of the invention is to provide convenient means forsupporting a clock in a conspicuous position, while at the same timemaking provision for easily manipulating the clock for winding, setting,or starting without removing the clock from the safe.

With these and other objects in view,which will readily appear as thenature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in thenovel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts hereinaftermore fully described, illustrated, and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a kitchen-safeembodying the improvements contemplated by this invention. Fig. 2 is avertical longitudinal sectional view of the safe. Fig. 3 is a verticaltransverse sectional view of the safe on aline of section including thefront canister-compartment at one side of the clock-holder. Fig. 4 is anenlarged detail sectional view at the top of the safe, showing themanner of slidably mounting the temporary inside cover-plates. Fig. 5 isan enlarged vertical sectional view of the lower portion of the safe,the line of section including the clock-holder. Fig. 6 is a detail inperspective of the clock-holder removed from the safe-body. Fig. 7 is asimilar View of one of the removable spice-canisters. Fig.

Serial No. 630,147. (No model.)

8 is an enlarged detail sectional view showing more clearly the mannerof locking the lower pair of front doors of the safe. Fig. 9 is a detail sectional View on the line 9 9 of Fig. 8, showing the manner ofremovably mounting the lock carried by the upper front door. Fig. 10 isa detail sectional view showing the lock connection for the top lid orcover.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the numeral 1 designates theupright safebody,which is of an approximately rectangular form andpreferably made of sheet metal with tight joints, so as to render thesafe when closed practically air-tight and free from air and theintrusion of insects or foreign substances. The upright rectangularsafe-body 1 is preferably supported in a handy position over thekitchen-table at a convenient height without being in the way by meansof a pair of metal suspension straps or links 2, preferably bolted attheir lower ends at 3 to the rear side of the body 1, near the upperedge thereof, and provided in their opposite ends with openings 4 toreceive nails, which are driven in the wall to provide for the supportof the safe-body in the position suggested. This is the preferablemanner of arranging and supporting the safe for use; but it will ofcourse be understood that the same'may be placed in any other positionthat may be more convenient or desirable.

The safe-body 1 is constructed with an upper bin portion 5, having avertical front wall 6, while the lower or base portion 7 of the body isenlarged and extended at the front,

as at 8, beyond the plane of the vertical front f i wall 6 of the upperbin portion 5. The upper bin portion 5 of the safe-bodyis open at thetop and has fitted therein a plurality of vertical transversepartition-plates 10, which divide the interior of the upper portion ofthe safe-body into a plurality of vertical interior bins 11, designedfor the reception of different articles of food-such as flour, meal,sugar, rice, and the like-and the vertical partitions l0 are spaced atany desirable distance apart, according to the size or capacity of thebinst 11 to be formed, and it will be observed by reference to thedrawings that some of these bins are larger than others, the smallerbins being necessarily designed for such articles or materials as areconsumed less rapidly IOO than the articles or materials designed to beintroduced into the larger bins. The vertical partitions lO, forming theinterior vertical bins 11, have fitted to their upper edges roundedstrips 12, which serve to strengthen and stiffen the top edges of thepartitions, so as to prevent the same from being bent and battered'whilethe bins are being filled, and in conjunction with the bins 11, andpreferably the smaller of such bins, there is designed to be employed apair or more of temporary inside cover-plates 13.

The temporary inside cover-plates 13 are slidably mounted within theopen top of the upper bin portion 5 and consist of iiat metal platesfolded at their side edges at 14, so as to be stiffened at such edges,and provided with upwardly-disposed outwardly-curved slide-danges 15 attheir ends, said curved slide-flanges 15 at the ends of the cover-plates13 being designed to loosely and slidably engage the opposite parallelside portions of the interior rounded annular strengthening bead or jamb16, fitted within the open top of the upper portion of the safe-body toprovide for strengthening this part of the body and also providing afirm support for the top lid 17. The top lid 17 is hinged at one edge,as at 18, to the rear top edge of the safe-body and is provided at itsunder side near its edges with a strengthening-strip 19. At the underside of the hinged top lid 17, near the swinging edge thereof, isarranged an ordinary keyoperated lock 20, provided with a base-plate 21,having angled attaching feet or anges 22 at its ends, which aredetachably bolted to the lid17 by means of the bolts 23, therebyproviding simple and efficient means for detachably fastening the lockto the lid, so that the same can be readily removed, if found necessary,for repairs. The angled feet or anges 22 of the lock base-plate alsoserve to offset the lock sufficiently from the lid so that the boltthereof will engage beneath one side portion of the interior annularbead or jamb 16.

The top lid 17 acts as a cover for all of the bins 11 except for theseparate upright coffeebin 23, built within one of the end bins 11 andprovided with an independent sliding cover or lid 24 at the open upperend thereof. The coffee-bin 23 extends substantially the entire lengthof the bin 11, within which it is located, and is provided in its bottomwith a feed-opening 25, 'which serves to deliver the coffee to anordinary coffee-mill 26, suitably mounted in position within thesafe-body directly below the bottom of the storage-bin 23a for thecoffee, and the ground coffee from the mill 26 falls into acoffee-drawer 27, removably tted in the drawer-opening 28, formed Ywithin one end of the safe-body below the plane of the mill 26.

The upright bins 11 within the safe have fitted within their lower endsinclined false bottoms 29, which decline from the front of the safetoward the rear thereof and serve to deect the contents of the bin ontothe rear portion of the horizontal shelf 30,fitted within the lower orbase portion 7 of the safe-body. The horizontal shelf 30 within thelower or base portion 7 of the safe-body divides -the interior of thebase into separate upper and lower sets of compartments, and in thespace above the shelf 30, between the same and the false bottoms 29, arearranged a series of vertical partition plates 31, having the samespacing` as the partition-plates 10 and forming a plurality ofscooping-colnpartments 32, one for each bin 11, and which are keptfilled with sufficient of the materials as required for use, it ofcourse being understood that the rearwardly-declining false bottoms 29of the bins prevent the contents thereof from spilling out through thefront openings of the compartments 32.

A single vertical partition-plate 33 is fitted in the space below thehorizontal shelf 30 and is arranged so as to form within the eX- tremebottom of the safe-body a large compartment 34, preferably designed forbread or cake, and a smaller compartment 36, which may conveniently holdany'kitchen utensils or tools, and within the compartment 36 arepreferably mounted in a fixed position and handy for use the scales 37,the scale-plate 38 of which is fitted on the outside of the safebody, atone end thereof.

The horizontal partition-shelf 30 in the base portion of the safe hasfitted to the front edge thereof a rounded strengthening-bead 38, andthe compartments below the shelf 30 are designed to be covered at thefront by means IOO of a door 39, hinged at its lower edge at 40 to thefront lower edge of the safe-body and provided at its inner side andnear the upper edge thereof with a spring catch-lip 41, adapted to havean interlocking` engagement with the lower side of the round bead 38.The scooping-compartments 32 above the shelf 30 are inclosed at thefront by a continuous front door 42, hinged at one edge, as at 43, tothe front of the safe-body and of a sufficient width so as to have thefree swinging edge thereof overlap the unhinged edge of the lower frontdoor 39 when the latter is closed. Nearits unhinged or free edge theupper front door 42 is provided at its inner side with an ostandingspring catch-lip 44, adapted to spring in engagement with the upper sideof the bead 38. In addition to the catch-lip 43 the door 42 carries anordinary key-operated lock 45.

The lock 45, like the lock 20, is provided with a base-plate 46, havingangled attaching feet or flanges 47 at its ends, which are detachablybolted to the door 42 by means of the bolts 48, whereby the lock can beremoved for repairs when necessary. The angled feet or flanges 47 of thelock base-plate 46 also serve to offset the lock suiiicie'ntly from thedoor, so that the bolt of the lock will engage at the rear side of thebead 38, and by reason of the overlapping of the two doors the lock IIO45 will serve as the lock for both, as will be readily understood.

The front projection of the enlarged lower base portion 7 of thebase-body is formed above the plane of the scooping-compartments with acanister-compartment 49, having a sharply-inclined top panel 50,declining from the vertical front wall 6 of the upper loin portion ofthe safe. The top panel of the canister-compartment 49 is provided witha plurality of rectangular openings 5l, designed to removably receivetherein spice-canisters 52, which spice-canisters occupy a verticalposition and are provided at one end with inclined flanged plates 53,which rest on the panel 50 and have the same inclination as the latter.The said canisters 52 are further provided with removable end caps 54,which permit of the same being readily lled and emptied.

At a point intermediate the opposite ends of the safe-body l thecanister-compartment 49 is cut away, as at 55, to form a receptacle foran ordinary clock 5G, which is properly supported in position by meansof the clockholder 57. The clock-holder 57 essentially consists of anangled plate having separate upperand lower flanges 5S and 59, bent atan obtuse angle to each other yand the lower of which iianges is formedwith a circular opening GO, in which the clock 56 is removably fitted.The upper edge of the plate forming the clock-holder 57 is provided withhingeeyes 6l, adapted to aline with a similar eye 62, arranged at thefront side of the safe-body and designed to removably receive a hingepin63, which serves to detachably hinge the clock-holder in place. Normallythe clockholder hangs in a pendent position, with its upper flange 5Spartly resting on theinclined panel 50 and having the same inclinationas the latter, while the lower flange 59 occupies a substantiallyvertical position, so as to properly expose the clock.

Whenever it is necessary to wind or set the clock the holder-plate 57 israised on'its hinge, so as to expose the back of the clock to view, andshould at any time the clock fail to start after being wound the samemay be readily by sharply vibrating the latter on its hinge,

as will be readily understood. v

It is thought that the use of the different parts of the safe will bereadily understood from the foregoing description; but at this point itmay be added that by a proper manipulation and sliding of the temporaryinside cover-plates 13 one or more of theupright bins 1l may betemporarily closed during the process of filling an adjacentcompartment, thereby preventing materials from being accidentallyspilled into the wrong bin.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details ofconstruction may be resorted to without departing from the principle orsacricing any of the advantages of this invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed, and desired to besecured by Letters Patent, is y l. In akitchen-safe, thesafe-bodyprovided with a clock-receptacle, and a swinging clockholderhinged at its upper edge to the safebody and arranged to normally coversaid receptacle, said clock-holder being provided with an opening snuglyreceiving therein a clock and adapted to be raised or swung upwardly onits hinge to expose the rear side of the clock for winding or setting,substantially as set forth.

2. In a kitchen-safe, the safe-body provided at the front with an offsetportion having an inclined top panel and a centrally-locatedclock-receptacle, and a clock-holder detachably hinged at its upper edgeto the front of the safe-body over said clock-receptacle and conformingto the shape of the front oset of the safe-body, said clock-holder beingprovided with an opening for receiving therein an ordinary clock,substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JESSE M. CURTICE.

